Author Julie Lythcott-Haims is on a crusade to save parents and students from themselves. Modern-day parents and students have adopted a success-driven checklist that robs students of their childhood, she told a packed assembly of upper school students on Jan. 11.

“You need to go the the best high school in the city,”  Lythcott-Haims said. “But that’s not it, you also have to get the highest standardized test scores. And that’s not it. You have to do activities, sports, leadership and community service. Don’t just join a club, start a club.”